Mourinho only hanging on due to absence of a replacement

As Manchester United’s players walked from the pitch after their dispiriting goalless draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday, the Old Trafford announcer read out that Manchester City had recorded yet another comfortable win. This remains United’s worst start to a season for 28 years, and they are now a mammoth 14 points behind City at the top of the table. The gulf between the sides could be seen on the pitch two weeks ago when City beat them 3-1 at the Etihad stadium, which made this woeful performance against Crystal Palace even worse for it was devoid of any reaction to that. Where was the anger, and the determination to put things right, and prove that they are a better team than their current position of seventh suggests? On Saturday against the south Londoners, United displayed an inability to even master the basics; passes were misplaced and the first touch of supposedly world-class players was often absent. And this was against a struggling Crystal Palace who has won twice all season and had lost six of their last seven games. (Forbes)